Chelsea Navarro hates the word “victim.”
Instead, she calls herself a survivor of domestic violence.
Navarro, a graduate student in UCLA’s School of Education, grew up in San Diego in a family where domestic violence was prevalent. When she reached community college, she began seeking resources to cope with her past. Her experience has encouraged her to consider a career in student affairs to help those who might have similar experiences. Now, she has a chance to educate other UCLA students in this week’s campaign against violence.
“Just being there as a resource is something I’m passionate about,” Navarro said. “The more we talk about it, the better (we can) overcome it.”
Enough is Enough, an event hosted by Student Affairs along with the Undergraduate Students Association Council and Office of Residential Life, deals with issues ranging from sexual assault to any form of hate crime, said Karen Minero, a student care manager in UCLA’s Student & Campus Life.
“The goal is to raise awareness of all types of violence … and educate students on how they can be involved,” Minero said.
The event will also inform focus students about resources to prevent hate crimes from occurring.
“There has always been a cry from certain students on campus that there was not enough diversity,” said Stephanie Lucas, USAC internal vice president. “We have a lot of educational resources that allow students to feel that they don’t have to react in violence.”
On Monday, various campus resource centers, including university police and Counseling and Psychological Services, hosted booths in Bruin Plaza. Students could also pledge to refrain from violence and respect other students.
Josh Guanio, a fourth-year civil engineering student, came to the event after seeing it on Facebook. While he has not directly experienced any hate crime while at UCLA, he recognizes that verbal abuse still exists.
“In a way, ignorance and classifying groups (is) something you hear, but you just ignore it,” Guanio said. “Sometimes people do step over the line though.”
The event was started by Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, a national organization, in response to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. The program was brought to UCLA in 2010, and this year’s event has expanded from its original one-day resource fair and pledge drive.
“(Violence) is a problem everywhere and no college is immune to it,” said Megan Schaedel, a graduate student in education who helped plan this year’s event. “We need to work to promote a more inclusive community that is just more tolerant of everybody.”